


the one where color appears on your body wherever your soulmate first touches you.

by peltonea



Series: tumblr prompt fics [1]
Category: Far Cry 5, Far Cry: New Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Multi, Prompt Fic, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 21:15:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21464650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peltonea/pseuds/peltonea
Summary: prompt fic from tumblr.Nick Rye and Kim Rye, but... soulmates. Exactly what it says on the tin.
Relationships: Carmina Rye/Mickey, Deputy | Judge/John Seed, Kim Rye/Nick Rye, Male Deputy | Judge/John Seed
Series: tumblr prompt fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547248
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45





	the one where color appears on your body wherever your soulmate first touches you.

Nick loves Kim’s hands. They’re small and delicate, just like the rest of her body. (He’s glad, though, that her personality ain’t small or delicate in any way. She’s strong, much stronger than anybody else he’s ever met, passion burning in her soul.) Her skin is always soft, and her nails are always covered in a layer of protective gloss. Best of all, her hands fit perfectly into his own, a bright yellow-lemon smudge on the insides of her fingers and across the back of her hand and all along her forearm, right where their skin meets. 

It might seem distasteful to some folks (especially those asshole Seeds, John’s made his bullshit opinion very clear over the years), having their soul-colours on display like they do, but Nick can’t bring himself to care. He doesn’t wear gloves anymore, even though the engine oil is a bitch to get out of his fingernails. Likes the way the green looks against the gold of his wedding band. Wants the whole world to know that everything in him belongs to Kim. Likes the small, half-hidden smiles they get when they’re out together, hand in hand, and it’s obvious how well they fit together.

Carmina’s fascinated by their colours, even though they’re a little washed out in the bright white light of Grace’s bunker. 

“When did you get the colours?” Carmina asks, as Kim helps her braid her hair. It occurs to Nick that, if one were to mix the dark green on his hand, and the bright yellow on Kim’s, you’d probably get a colour pretty much the same as little Carmina’s eyes. 

“Well, now… that was our third date, wasn’t it, hon?” Nick says. He knows full well that it was, but he knows that Kim likes it when he asks her stuff, so he does. 

“It was,” Kim agrees. “You were so nervous, I thought you were going to propose.”

“I wanted to,” Nick says. “But I had to be sure first, you know? I loved you so much, I didn’t wanna keep things going if you had someone else out there waiting for you.”

Kim smiles. 

“I wouldn’t have cared,” she replies. “You’ve always been the only one for me. And if there had been someone else, it wouldn’t matter because he wouldn’t be you.”

Nick laughs, grasps her hand and squeezes tightly, pressing a kiss to the back of her knuckles. Kim wipes a little dampness from her eyes, looks at Carmina. 

“We went to the pictures,” she says. “There used to be a theatre in the Henbane. The open-air kind where you’d drive in and stay in the car.”

Carmina nods intently, even though she has no understanding of the words open-air or car, and Nick wishes she did. Gotta be soon they can get out of here, right?

“I don’t even remember what we watched…” Kim murmurs.

“Blood Dragon,” Nick says, helpfully. “Wasn’t good.”

“I wish I could forget that movie,” Grace adds, looking up from the book she’s been reading for the last hour or so. It’s one of those hefty sci-fi ones. “You’re lucky, Kim.“

“Guess I am,” Kim chuckles, and she goes back to braiding Carmina’s hair as she continues the story. “Your father took me home afterward, and I remember standing on my parent’s porch, wishing he’d kiss me.”

“We used to wear gloves in them days,” Nick adds. “Was just what you did, if you didn’t have the colours yet. But I had to know, and I didn’t wanna mess up her face, so I took off my gloves and held my hand out as we were walking to the door.”

“And the rest is history,” Kim whispers, and she curls her fingers just-so around Nick’s hand.

* * *

As Carmina grows up, her questions get harder to answer. 

“What if someone bad makes your colours bloom?” she asks, a little after the Captain helps Nick back to Prosperity. “I know not everybody is as lucky as you and Mom.”

Nick’s all too aware of that. He remembers the horrified look on the Deputy’s face during that atonement bullshit John Seed tried to pull, when John had lifted his hand from Rook’s bare skin, leaving a deep blue stain next to the ornate letters tattooed into his chest. Remembers even worse the haunted, defeated look in Rook’s eyes after that firefight, after freeing all those people from John’s creepy dungeon. Remembers wondering if maybe that’s why Joseph was able to screw Rook’s head up so easy, turn him into that creepy masked _thing_. 

“Depends on the person, I guess,” Nick says. “You gotta remember that ain’t nothin’ set in stone. Your mom and I aren’t magically perfect for each other. Sure, we fit like a glove, but we still gotta work. Some people gotta work harder, I guess.”

Carmina is silent for a moment. She bites her lip, and Nick can’t help but notice the way she’s cradling her wrist. Not like it’s hurt, but like there’s something there, something he can’t see under her long sleeves and her gloves.

“Someone really, _really_ bad,” she says, and this time her voice cracks a little.

Nick’s stomach sinks. A highwayman, he’d guess. Probably dead by now. He doesn’t know what to say. He’s no good at this advice stuff. 

“You ain’t obligated to have anything to do with whoever makes you bloom,” Nick tries again. “If you really think they’re beyond help, that they’re gonna be bad for you, ain’t no shame in leaving them be. You gotta look out for you, no matter what. Even without that person, you’re still you, and you’re still whole, and you’re still important. You don’t owe anybody a damned thing. Not even me.”

“Don’t be silly, dad,” Carmina shakes her head. “Of course I owe you. And mom. And everybody at Prosperity.”

“Well, then, that just goes to show what a good kid you are,” Nick says. “You’re kind, Carmina. You’re gentle. You’re always trying to help. Even if your person is an asshole, that ain’t a reflection on you. We all make our own choices.”

Carmina sniffles, but she looks a little happier. 

“Thanks, dad,” she mutters, and draws Nick into a hug.

(It’s not until much later, when the Captain reappears at Prosperity, Carmina and the Judge and one of those asshole Highwayman twins in tow, that Nick sees Mickey’s right hand stained the same green as Carmina’s eyes, the way Carmina keeps a gentle hand on her shoulder, and he puts two and two together.)


End file.
